In
April 2011, the International Crime Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia
convicted Croatian General Ante Gotovina of ‘five counts of crimes against
humanity’ and ‘four counts of violations of laws or customs of war’ and
sentenced him to 24 years. General
Gotovina, who was the overall operational commander of a military operation
codenamed ‘Operation Storm’ or ‘Oluja’, was indicted for crimes that had been
committed by his soldiers during the offensive.

A
year later, the conviction has been overturned and Gotovina arrived in Zagreb
with tens of thousands of Croats, young and old, lining the streets and
gathering in the squares to welcome him. For the young western Balkan nation,
November 16, 2012 will go down in history.

Storm
was an offensive conducted by the Croatian army to reclaim parts of the country
under Serb control, particularly the ‘Krajina’ region. Praised for its
swiftness and efficiency in attaining its objectives, Storm however caught
international attention due to the mass exodus of ethnic Serbs from the region.
300-600 Serb civilians lost their lives. The legitimacy and legality of the
Operation was soon questioned by the International Crime Tribunal for the
Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) and General Gotovina, the man largely responsible for
conducting it was indicted for war crimes in 2001. He went into hiding and was
captured in Spain in 2005. What followed was one of the most important, complex
and controversial trials in the history of the tribunal and the first instance
verdict declaring him guilty, was delivered in 2011.

Ante
Gotovina holds an unparalleled stature in modern Croatia. With the death of other
leading figures such as President Franjo Tudjman and Defence Minister Gojko
Susak, he became a symbol of the ‘homeland war’, of liberation and sovereignty.
His conviction was seen as a conviction of the nation, a condemnation of its
policies and actions during the war and as a distortion of history. The acquittal is seen as a vindication.

From
the very beginning, the conviction and specifically the criteria used for
conviction had failed to satisfy many international observers. The ruling by
the tribunal that any Croatian artillery that landed 200 meters from a military
target was ‘indiscriminate’ and therefore illegal came in for scathing
criticism from many prominent military commanders. Such a criterion, the appeals chamber ruled,
was ‘devoid of any reasoning’.

Soon
after his conviction 12 prominent western military figures submitted a brief to
the chamber, claiming that the standards by which Gotovina was convicted were
unfair , claiming that such a ‘precedent’ would be dangerous for future
military operations. This was not admitted as evidence by the appeals chamber,
but the case’s potential to create a precedent and regulation for the expected
and acceptable actions of a military commander during an offensive were by no means
underestimated.

The
most controversial element of the initial Gotovina judgment was the assertion
that Gen. Gotovina and the Croatian leadership, led by Tudjman was part of a
‘joint criminal enterprise’ that sought to expel all ethnic Serbs from the
Krajina during Storm. The basis for such a theory was a meeting Tudjman held with his top
military officials in July, 1995 in the island of Brijuni. This was further
complicated by the fact that Storm was not an independent Croatian Operation,
but had Bosnian, US and NATO support. The majority verdict dismissed such a conspiracy.

More
than a decade after his death, Franjo Tudjman continues to enjoy huge
popularity among the Croatian public and this verdict has brought in a little
more clarity to his often controversial and mixed legacy.

The
acquittal has predictably sparked mixed reactions in the region. Croatian Prime Minister,
Zoran Milanovic thanked Gotovina and Mladen Markac, the other General indicted
along with him for ‘enduring so much for Croatia’. Bosnian President Zivko
Budimir congratulated them on ‘another victory’ while calling them ‘respected
comrades, dear friends and our heroes’, while Tomislav Nikolic, the President
of Serbia, termed the verdict ‘scandalous’, with various sections of the
Serbian media claiming that it would reopen old wounds. Serb nationalists
burned a Croatian flag while protesting the verdict the next day.

With
Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic among those still on trial, some of its most crucial judgments are still
to be rendered by the ICTY as it nears its closure and replacement by the
Mechanism for International Criminal Tribunals. Nearly two decades after the end of the
conflict, much of the world still struggles to understand the Yugoslav conflict
and the tribunals findings will be looked to as the basis for forming any longer term historical narrative.

On
his arrival in Croatia, Gotovina asked his countrymen to make Storm and the war
a thing of the past and to work together for a better future. For many
Croatians, that future had become a little brighter and the past a lot clearer.

About the author

Kiran Mohandas Menon is an independent researcher from India. His articles have been featured in various international publications.

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